SALLY RAMIREZ, Senior Vice President, News, NBC 5 Chicago and Telemundo Chicago
With more than 30 years of local/national broadcast journalism experience, Sally Ramirez returned to Chicago in 2023 to restructure and lead the newsrooms at two of Chicago’s most prestigious media properties: NBC 5 Chicago (WMAQ-TV) and Telemundo Chicago (WSNS-TV).
Prior to joining NBC 5 Chicago/Telemundo Chicago, Ramirez was Executive Producer for CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith,” where she led newsgathering and production. In addition to increasing viewership, Ramirez artfully established successful relationships with multiple NBCUniversal national and international news outlets, enabling “The News with Shepard Smith” to be the first program in NBCUniversal News Group history to utilize content from all properties and platforms in one evening newscast.
From 2016-2020, Ramirez was the Executive News Director at KHOU-TV in Houston, Texas, where she transformed newsroom culture, focusing on innovative and interactive content. Ramirez also successfully led her team through the massive challenges of Hurricane Harvey, which destroyed the TV station and required an immediate relocation to a temporary broadcast facility. Through her resiliency and vision, Ramirez designed and transitioned KHOU into a state-of-the-art news operation, allowing the station to better serve modern audiences across multiple devices.
Prior to her life-changing stint in Houston, Ramirez spent 17 years as Executive Producer, then Assistant News Director at KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon. Earlier, she held several editorial and management positions across the country, including as Executive Producer at Chicago’s WGN-TV.
Ramirez is the recipient of numerous industry awards, including five Edward R. Murrow Awards, four Emmy Awards and the Alfred I. du-Pont-Columbia University Award, among others.
Ramirez is a bilingual, first-generation Mexican-American who grew up in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood and is a graduate of Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communications at DePaul University, where she recently received the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from DePaul’s Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence.